What are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals SDGs?

The Sustainable Development Goals or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all”. The SDGs were set up in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and are intended to be achieved by the year 2030.

Many businesses have chosen to adopt one or more of the Sustainable Development Goals and feature the icons on their website (see icons below).

If you are looking into developing an Environmental Policy following ISO 140001 or an Energy Management Policy following ISO 50001, these international standards are already supporting sustainability goals #7 Affordable and Clean Energy, #11 Sustainable Cities and Communities, #12 Responsible Consumption and Production, and #13 Combat Climate Change. If you are adopting the ISO 14001 and/or ISO 50001 standards for your own business, you are automatically supporting these sustainable goals as well. There is no framework or accreditation associated with supporting the 17 Global Goals. However, I have summarized the main certifications for sustainability that might be of interest for your business in this blog article (link).